Youngsters put their own twist on Italian cuisine

L-r, Will Haegeland and Trond Arne Dalby of The County Hotel in Selkirk tuck into pizza's design by local school children under the heading of 'The Selkirk Pizza'. Four pizzas have been chosen to be added to a special menu with the most popular being available on the main menu at The County's restaurant.

Published:14:05Friday 10 June 2011

PIZZA is cleary a popular dish with the youngsters of Selkirk, if a competition run by a local hotel and restaurant is anything to go by, writes Mark Entwistle.

A total of 60 entries were received from primary school children in the town after the owners of the County Hotel and La Contea Restaurant invited the pupils to come up with a design for the topping of a ‘Selkirk Pizza’.

The children had to make drawings of their proposed designs and also explain why and how their entry represented Selkirk.

Out of these entries, four schools have now been nominated with one entry from each school. The four nominated pizza designs/recipes will be turned into reality by the staff at La Contea before being sold over the next three weeks. The one sold the most will receive the coveted title of ‘The Selkirk Pizza’ and will be put on the restaurant menu. And out of the sale of the four pizzas, £1 will be donated from each one to local charity, the Katie McKerracher Trust.

Children from the classes of the nominated pizzas have now also been invited to La Contea for a special pizza party.

Due to the numbers of children, this will be split into groups on June 27 and 28. All the pizza design drawings will be on display and the children will be able to taste the nominated pizzas.

The hotel and restuarant are run by owner/proprietors Trond Dalby and Will Haegeland. They have been delighted by the response to their competition.

“It was a bit surprising,” Mr Dalby told The Southern this week. “We thought it would be a good idea as part of our commitment for on-going support of the local community and would give the children something a bit different in the last week of the term before they break up for their summer holidays.”

A wide range of weird and wonderful recipes for toppings were submitted and Mr Dalby says the pupils had clearly given a lot of thought to the project.

“They obviously thought it through very well. One group made it part of their healthy eating project, while another formed a discussion group so that everyone’s ideas about Selkirk were incorporated.

“One design included ingredients to give the blue and red colours for the local rugby team, while another used strips of bacon to represent the Ettrick and Yarrow rivers.

“It really was a fantastic effort by all those who took part.”

The recipes for the toppings for the four shortlisted pizzas which can be tasted at La Contea are as follows: